Photography Guidelines & Resources

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Photographs used in university communications should be consistent with the university brand. When presented with well-written captions, the best photos are ones that encourage an action or communicate a message consistent with the university's mission and vision.

Quality Standards

  • Photographs must display the university event, department, or program and the work of its students, faculty, and staff in an engaged, professional, and relevant manner.
  • When possible, photographs should be captured in a natural photojournalistic style as opposed to posed staging.
  • Photographs serving both print and web applications are the most desirable use of CSUDH resources. High-quality images are preferred, to allow for resizing and cropping for maximum visual impact. Cell phone images can be shared on our social media websites, but are not appropriate for CSUDH web pages.
  • Photographs should be in focus, well-lighted for the subject matter, and properly processed for color correction.
  • Images that contain excessive amounts of high ISO noise (grainy images) or have been post-processed incorrectly will not be used.

Resolution and Size

  • If possible, shoot and save the photo in a RAW (preferred), TIFF or JPEG format.
  • Images taken are recommended to have a minimum capture size of 3000 x 2400 with a resolution of 300 dpi.
  • Website images should be used at 100 percent of their size at 72 dpi to provide the best loading time for the page.
  • Resizing images in HTML is unacceptable, as images may be distorted and increase load times.

Transmission

  • Email the digital photo(s) to University Communications and Public Affairs from a regular email account, preferably one at a time. Do not use photo sites such as iPhoto, Picasa, or Facebook, which often minimize images for ease of transmission.
  • You may be forced by size constraints to send the photo in a JPEG format.
  • Be sure contact information for each photo is included in the email, in case there are questions.

Captions

  • In most cases, a photo without a caption doesn’t convey enough information to be useful to your audience. Please record as much information about the photo as possible, including when and where it was taken, a description of what is happening, and the date.
  • In most cases, especially photos of awards, students should be identified. Include their majors and their status (i.e., graduate student, sophomore, etc.)
  • Please ensure that all names in photo captions are spelled correctly.
  • The name of the photographer must be included. If the photographer is a professional, a Letter of Permission to Publish at No Charge must accompany the submission. By your submission, you acknowledge that you are the author and copyright holder of the photo.

Copyright and Use of CSUDH Photos

Photographs on the CSU Dominguez Hills Web site and social media sites and those otherwise provided by University Communications and Public Affairs are copyrighted by CSU Dominguez Hills.

  • University photos are for uses related to CSUDH ONLY and not to be used for commercial reproduction. Photographs may not be used in any way other than in their intended context and for the promotion of CSU Dominguez Hills.
  • Photographs may not be altered in any way other than minimal cropping.
  • Photographs that are copyrighted by the university and published in off-campus media or public relations pieces must include a credit. “Photo courtesy of CSU Dominguez Hills” is preferred, but a credit MUST appear within style guidelines. “CSUDH Photo” or “CSUDH” would be the minimum acceptable credits.

Photo Releases

All CSUDH faculty, staff, and students whose photos are taken by University Photography or who participate in campus, classroom, or lab photo shoots must complete a Photo Release Form. This is especially important if the photos will be published in print media or online.

  • Exceptions to the Photo Release Form requirement are for general campus photos or photos taken at public events. This may include photos where people are not easily identifiable, crowd shots, or when there are reasonable expectations that attendees could appear in photos taken at a public event.

Contact

University Photographer
 Email Matt Brown or call 243-2820

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